Clinton Jacobs, analyst for BMI-T, recently asked vendors at an ITWeb roundtable how companies should best embark on the journey into BI and big data. He also asked what possible relevance the technologies could have for mid-market companies and SMEs. The responses are enlightening.
Cedric Labuschagne, director at Avanade SA, says it's necessary to assess the available data assets and then work with customers to establish a BI strategy and a roadmap. "We take one step at a time, and go through the BI value chain, turning it into data, into information, into knowledge and into decisions," he explains.
Dave Ives, director of Karabina Solutions, concurs, but adds that the process is aided by understanding upfront where value is most likely going to be found. "Quite often in the SME space, they don't understand what they're going to get. It requires as much effort as working in the big customers to close the same-size deal, but the value there is huge," he notes.
"It's a big opportunity in the mid-market space, but you have to go in with a data model that you fully understand... and have simple, demonstrable cases of what has been done and how you can help the [business]."
Woudr'e van Zyl, senior sales engineer at MicroStrategy, says her approach is to start with analysis and identifying key points to be addressed. "You need to be able to track the actions to make sure you know what is and what isn't working, and not just analyse the actual data," she adds.
Van Zyl believes cloud computing is the technology that could make BI accessible in the SME space, primarily because of the low barriers to entry.
Sustainability
Bruce Bond-Myatt, business advisory manager: MEA for SAS, speaks of alignment. "You need to think about aligning your BI and analytics with what you need to do to support your business strategy," he says.
You need to able to track the actions to make sure you know what is and what isn't working.
Woudr'e van Zyl, senior sales engineer, MicroStrategy
He also notes these solutions must be sustainable and, for that, it is necessary to have the correct organisational structures, funding and capabilities in place.
Itayi Mandonga, senior sales consulting manager at Oracle, thinks more needs to be done to educate the market on the true value of BI and big data. You need to sit with the customer, spend a lot of time on the journey educating them and understanding where their pains are before you can agree to a project or deliverable," he explains.
Adrienne McDougall, BI specialist for IBM, reiterates Mandonga's point that big data and BI is a journey, not a destination. "The important thing is to take the first step. There's going to be trial and error," she says.
Philip Mostert, BI development manager at 3fifteen, says the true value of BI and big data will only be realised when it becomes a pre-emptive and predictive tool. "If it's only being reactive, then it's just reporting," he says.
Nicholas Bell, CEO of Business Intelligent, speaks of a journey to understanding the data, for which he says the market needs better research and more insight into how to use these new data sets to derive value. He also seems to caution companies against leaping into BI - particularly in the mid-tier - if they're not sure they're getting the maximum value out of data and systems they already have.
Creative thinking
Keith Matthew, GM for sub-Saharan Africa at BT, sees big data and BI as technologies for the enterprise market. "When it comes to the mid-tier and SME space, we need to be a little more creative in terms of how we provide solutions," he says.
Matthew suggests a phrase that may or may not already have been coined: BIOD or BI On Demand, which tallies nicely with Van Zyl's point. You need to create systems where an SME can bring a data set for analysis, he adds.
Twanette Jurd, technical director at InfoBuild, says the worst thing people can do about BI is not do anything. At the same time, she cautions against the implementation of systems that use technology to allow customers to make bad decisions faster.
"There has to be a mixture between governance and the ability to deliver faster," she stresses. On the SME side, she says vendors need to come up with more affordable solutions.
Jacobs wraps up by analysing some of the comments. The message then is for companies to start where they can get the most value in the business in the shortest possible time, he says. There is also a need to get IT and business working together.
When it comes to the mid-tier and SME space, we need to be a little more creative in terms of how we provide solutions.
Keith Matthew, GM for sub-Saharan Africa, BT
"The key thing for me is looking differently at data and asking the right questions so that you can use data to address [your] business challenges," he concludes.
First published in the October 2013 issue of ITWeb Brainstorm magazine.
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